Black Mischief by Evelyn Waugh 10 out of 10

 Black Mischief by Evelyn Waugh

10 out of 10

Black Mischief is the Magnum opus that you should read at any time – it is after all on The Guardian’s 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jan/23/bestbooks-fiction - in the Comedy chapter  - but it might be perfect for the pandemic period, which looks like coming to an end, in the first phase, they say it looks to be worse in autumn, when it will be coupled with the seasonal flu, when this marvelous book offers an escape on many levels – albeit this foolish reader has had the chance, when he was young, about eight years ago, to enjoy, but somehow failed to get the bliss, the equanimity offered by this book, in spite of the fact that he is a convinced admirer of the author of Put Out More Flags - http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/04/put-out-more-flags-by-sublime-evelyn.html  - with which Black Mischief shares the hero and so many other extraordinary works of art.

Black Mischief offers the immense pleasure of immersing in adventures on a mesmerizing continent and with that he has reminded this reader of another genius, William Boyd, and his chef d’oeuvres, An Ice Cream War - http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/09/an-ice-cream-war-by-william-boyd-10-out.html - and A Good Man in Africa http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/09/a-good-man-in-africa-by-william-boyd-10.html - William Boyd has written other stupendous novels, such as Any Human Heart and Love Is Blind – notes are posted at the same internet address – but they are not happening in Africa…

At the center of the Black Mischief is Emperor Seth of Azania – in the introduction, the glorious Evelyn Waugh explains that he has found inspiration from his experience in Africa, but Haile Selassie has nothing in common with Seth, while Zanzibar has provided some elements for the novel – albeit Basil Seal – the main character in the aforementioned Put Out More Flags – is the main character, dashing, entrepreneurial – in Put Out More Flags he makes money by using some obnoxious children sent to the countryside during World War II – reckless, inventive, easily bored, charming, but also very rude at times, libertine and interested in some rather Grand Designs, pressing for progress, but also scheming to obtain advantages, regardless of the chagrin caused for those involved – before departing for Azania, he does not hesitate to steal his mother’s precious necklace, which he would sell on the way, in Cairo, for a fifth of its value…

The pomposity of the Emperor, as well as that of various dukes and earls of the state, is one of the reasons for Black Mischief, also a laughing matter, but it has correspondence in real life, where the likes of Mobutu Seseseko and Idi Amin used in real life incredible ‘titles ‘such as ‘lord of all beasts, doctor, Marshall, Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa’…in the same manner, in the first few lines we read about the proclamations of the ‘Chief of All Chiefs, Tyrant of the Seas and Bachelor of arts at Oxford…’among other things, the latest title being the result of a stay in Oxford, during which the would be emperor met with Basil Seal, the latter a very dashing figure, known for his daring, the unconventional style, the incredible audacity with which he would invite himself for a sea faring party in the yacht of an important press magnate, only to keep them waiting for a couple of days, because he will have decided to do something else – recalling another sublime story taking place in Africa, Scoop http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/07/scoop-by-evelyn-waugh-adapted-for-bbc.html

Seth is preposterous in his efforts to bring Progress and the New Age to a population that is still immersed in some rather troubling at times and quite obscene and barbaric when taken to extremes habits, which include cannibalism – in one scene, Basil Seal recognizes an item, a beret that he had seen someone wearing and when he asks about the person, the chief of the tribe, one of the Wanda clans probably, indicates his belly to say this is where he or she is, in other words, they have eaten human flesh…Basil included, for he had no idea what was offered in the stew on the fire and by that time, he would have gotten used with various animals being killed to be eaten, often violently – this is the reason why a couple of English ladies arrive in Azania, to press the case for the elimination of Cruelty against animals, but in one of the many cases of morbid humor, they are honored as promoting Cruelty towards animals and some of those present at the bizarre imperial banquet boast of their Cruelty…

In the first few chapters, we have a conflict between Seth and his own father, Seyid, the result of which appears to be in doubt for some time, a period during which all those near or far from the emperor try to escape and steal everything they can, in the case of his assistant that would die soon, he tries to run away with the crown and the scepter, although after some lying, the army led by the florid Connolly – married to the one he calls Black Bitch – wins the civil war, after claiming that Seth is in fact the reincarnation of his grandfather Amurath…after the end of the conflict, the confused, unstable Seth is too captivated by the various books he reads and after each consultation, he comes with a different project, one morning he wants a new Natural Museum, in the afternoon he is keen on astronomy, he wants the Anglican church to be demolished in order to have another idea implemented, to construct various avenues, one of which will have the name of the British Minister, sir Courtney, in compensation for the fact that there is no road to his legation and might never be…Basil Seal, who by this time will have become the special adviser, Minister of Modernization and actually in control of the country – albeit he blunders in his relationship with the head of the army, Connolly, on the matter of the boots, which end up being eaten (that is correct, eaten) by the soldiers – as everything has to go through his office, says that if the ‘lunatic’ keeps going like this, there will be an Oedipus Avenue, after he reads psychoanalysis…

There are many extraordinary antics and hilarious developments, such as during the campaign – that would prove eventually so disastrous for the Tyrant of the Seas – for Contraception, where Seth is on the side of Progress – as always – and wants his subjects to have fewer children, in spite of the fact that most of them see many children as a good thing – Seth and his small entourage find some Soviet posters and they launch an advertising campaign, wherein they have on one side of the posters a man with seventeen or more children, one of whom is crazy, the wife is in the fields working and looking very grim, while the pot for the many is empty, to contrast with the other side, where there is a small family, a man smoking a pipe – a sign of affluence apparently – with only one son, a good looking wife, reading newspapers and enjoying themselves – when the [population looked at those images, they decided the rich man is bad and so is his wife, while the poor one is good, since he has so many children and this is the effect of the Emperor’s Juju or magic and the advertising proved a success, because all the locals were now interested in the Juju, but to become good…like the poor one